A bunch of hillbillies in Tuttle Oklahoma, that's the impression after reading the official coverage by The Tuttle Times on the recent idiot show starring Jerry Taylor, the city manager of Tuttle Oklahoma. The response from the city officials were so absurd that we almost forget to ask the real question: Why doesn't Jerry just apologize and admit his fault?
Just before anyone jumps out to cry, Comic Sans MS is the font used for Jerry's official biography. Image was linked from blogs.phillyburgs.com.
Quoted from The Tuttle Times, Mr. Taylor said 'this is just a bunch of freaks out there that don't have anything better to do,' he added, 'CentOS is a free operating system that this guy gives away, which tells you how much time he's got on his hands.' His attitude 'and knowledge' upon open source project 'reveals' his capability to his work, not to mention his 22 years of computer system engineering & operation. By all means, this entry should stay, as it is of great general public interest.
Also quoted from The Tuttle Times, Mr. Taylor had no bit of regret for threatening FBI action: 'after that, he called me Mr. Taylor,' he said, 'and he got me the information I needed.'
What's more interesting is the Mayor's reaction to the incident and EMails and phone calls to the city around the world. Mayor Paxton commented that 'he was being aggressive and finding out what happened to the website.'
Anyone familiar with system engineering knows that a single mistake, or in general any isolated mistake is unlikely to bring down a system; related mistakes usually will. There's not enough to say about the city with just one incompetent city manager, but with a council that unanimously approved the idiot and a Mayor who thinks rudeness and abuse is the way to get things done, people just know more about the place. No wonder even the US ambassador to the UK was ridiculed by the Register thanks to his Tuttle connection.
Quoted from a reader's letter to the Register:
Oklahoma is not as much a third world country as it seems. There are many of us who do in fact posses opposable thumbs, can walk on two legs, and have the capacity to dress ourselves and form simple complete sentences; though some of the more vocal representatives of this state would lead you to believe otherwise.
I have nothing else to offer but my most sincere apologies for the rampant idiocy displayed in recent past, and a promise of hope that the younger generation of Oklahoman emerging into industry today do not reflect quite so much a lack of Clue as displayed by the exchange between the City Manager of Tuttle and CentOS.
Reid Linnemann
Also a few comments from the Digg.com
There's a real learning lesson here. Back before the Internet, you could say anything you wanted to your local newspaper about people outside your area because it was unlikely that they'd ever read it. Now that we have web sites and email, that has all changed. If you look at the city's web site, it is geared toward attracting outside interest to their community. Why wouldn't they then do everything that they could to attract positive interest?
I think that the city underestimates the Google effect. We all know that before people are hired that managers do searches on prospective employees looking for dirt. The same holds true when businesses look at where they want to locate. If I'm just an average Joe looking to plunk down a wad of cash to start a new business, I'm going to want to know that my new city government is responsive to my needs. If I were to see that the city manager was as bull-headed as Mr. Taylor then I'd have to question whether I was investing my money wisely, and whether another community might be more receptive to my input.
It seems to me that a simple apology would go a long way. Instead, both the city manager and mayor are digging in for a fight. Maybe we should start electing officials not based on their ability to run government, but on their ability to recognize their own limitations.
toddbu
Evidently Tuttle's mayor and his city manager eminently deserve each other.
I feel rather sorry for the people of Tuttle who have to pay taxes for those two idiots' salaries.
clevershark
And lastly Jerry's own entry', apparently deleted from the Wikipedia
It has been suggested that being asked a stupid question, in an accusational tone, where one cannot effect a solution should be referred to as being "Jerry Taylored" or "tuttled".
Original blog entry of the story
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